8 
Jurassic limestone or oolite ; where it ceases, the yellow Crocus 
lagenæflorus in its varieties inhabits the Silurian schist and 
limestone of the Balkan. C. Clusianus of Portugal and 
Fleischerianus of Smyrna will be found on the Hippurite 
limestone ; the former not on the basalt or trap near Lisbon. 
I have long asked geologists what formation led C. reticulatus 
albicans from Odessa to S. Podolia, and caused it to run out 
near Trieste as variegatus, and also in the Crimea. The soil 
adhering to the Croci from above Damascus, from Crete, 
Scios, Syra, Tino, Angora, and Simpheropol effervesces with 
muriatic acid; that which adheres to reticulatus albicans of 
the steppes in Wallachia whither it descends from S. Podolia, 
and round reticulatus variegatus of Istria, does not effervesce, 
but looks like the crumbling sour blackish earth which often 
covers chalk. The cloth-of-gold reticulatus inhabits the 
poorest slopes of Tauria. Speciosus, as well as Byzantinus, 
chooses the most fertile soil of the hills in shade, seeking 
protection, I imagine, rather from summer rains, than sun. 
Crocus ends with the calcareous ridge of Taurus towards 
Diarbekir, and is cut off by the volcanic rocks from Armenia, 
It is not found in Kurdistan, Mesopotamia, Persia, Daghes- 
tan, or Shirvan, but follows the calcareous line by Tifflis and 
Elizabethpol to Lenkeran on the Caspian, where C. Boryanus 
of the red earth on chalk near Navarino and Modon, Cepha- 
lonia, Sta. Maura, and Dodona in Albania, re-appears. In 
Italy and Sta. Maura Crocus is found on tufa, but under what 
circumstances in relation to the calcareous formation remains 
to be enquired. Zante, consisting mainly of Apennine lime- 
stone, seems not to produce Crocus. If found on the Apen- 
nine limestone of Italy at all, it does not appear to abound 
there, nor to exist on the tufa and igneous rocks of the vicinity 
of Kaisarich in Caramania. 
Mr. Kotschy states that he meant Mount Taurus when 
he was understood to speak of Crocuses near Tabriz, where 
he now denies their existence, and the plant on the road to 
Baalbec with a yellow flower in October seems to have been 
a Sternebergia. C. cancellatus purples over part of the calca- 
reous ridge of Taurus, especially a mountain called Maaden 
Depessi, and an elevated flat on Bulgar Dagh, a mile and 
half from the lead mines at Kullak Bogas, the Pyle Cilicie, 
behind Tarsus, in September.—W. H. 
